Georgia Lawmaker Calls Blackface Photo A "Mistake"
Georgia Lawmaker Calls His Blackface Photo A “Mistake” After Kanye West Costume
A Georgia state representative is in hot water after a photo of him dressed in blackface is going viral on social media.
According to Raw Story, Dalton Republican state Rep. Kasey Carpenter thought it would be humorous to paint his skin Black and attend a costume party with his wife. Carpenter claims the photo was taken some 12 years ago when he was in his 30s. He added that the theme for party attendees was to dress as power couples, and Carpenter and his wife came dressed as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who were still married at the time.
“I think most of my constituents know, both white and my minority constituents, know where my heart is and know that I’m a man of all people,” he said in a phone call addressing the incident. “Clearly, it was a mistake, but it was nothing done with bad intentions or some subversive messaging.”
“I guess an election year is a good time to drop a racially sensitive photo of somebody,” he added.
“Instead of focusing on what you’ve done to help minorities, they want to post a one-off shot of something from 12, 14 years ago that – we can argue whether or not it was blackface – I would argue I was Kanye West. It was a person, I wasn’t representing a race or some kind of historically insensitive subject.”
Raw Story notes that Carpenter is set to face Cleve Manis in the GOP primary on May 19. “The winner will face Democrat Quentin Postell, a college student, in the November general election.”
Carpenter, who represents Whitfield County, which is about 38% Latinx, has pushed legislation to offer in-state tuition to children of immigrants protected by the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DREAM Act.
“Maya Angelou tells us, ‘when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,’ and this blackface photograph is just the latest example of how Kasey Carpenter’s own actions, and votes, make clear he does not represent all Georgians in the 4th District,” House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley told Raw Story.
Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs called for Carpenter to issue an actual apology in which he owns up to his actions.
“We have never come to a place in society where skin color has not mattered,” he said. “One of the greatest Georgians said that he hoped we could get there, but considering the outright attack on diversity, equity and inclusion, the erasure of African American history, the attempts to roll back voting rights show that we are not there by a long shot. So my hope would be he would just make a very short statement. ‘I’m sorry for doing something that is racially insensitive,’ period, full stop.”
